Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tobey Maguire star in Brothers (directed by Jim Sheridan), an amazing and intense story of a young man fighting to survive after being captured in Afghanistan, and upon return home, fighting for his old life back.
The movie trailer depicts the anger, resentment and anxiety that Sam (played by Maguire) brings home after his experience as a POW, but it’s the chemistry between the characters played by Portman (Grace) and Gyllenhaal (Tommy) that truly sends Sam over the edge. After returning home, he watches every move, follows every sound and literally falls apart when he discovers that his daughters and wife feel more safe with and loved by his brother, Tommy, who had just been released from prison before Sam was deployed for the fourth time.
Maguire lost a great deal of weight for the role, training several times a day while only consuming 1,200 calories to prepare for this project. He talks about it in an interview with Access Hollywood and speaks of the marines he met with at Camp Pendleton and the research that went into the development of his character.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects military families in devastating ways. There are resources available to help but as Maguire so genuinely states in his interview, it is those of us who have not served that need to be open to the discussions that typically remain unspoken.
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